Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths this week announced further plans to tackle food waste, slash produce wrapping, and ditch single-use plastic waste.
What started as an announcement to eliminate single-use plastic bags has turned into a big-picture endeavour to address sustainability across the board.
"We know that 69 per cent of customers say that we need to actively reduce waste and landfill through recyclable packaging and find alternative uses for waste," Coles managing director John Durkan said.
Coles has pledged to reduce plastic wrapping on fruit and veggies, including bunches of bananas, kale and silver beet, and replace meat and poultry product packaging with recycled and renewable materials.
The retail chain has set itself a deadline of 2020 to halve food waste from its supermarkets and make all packaging of its branded products recyclable.
It will also donate the equivalent of 100 million meals to people in need by redistributing surplus food.
Customers will also be able to recycle soft plastics at every Coles supermarket, so the material can be converted into products including outdoor furniture and road base.
Meanwhile, Woolworths says plastic straws would be banned by the end of this year, while its program to remove plastic wrap from fruit and vegetables will be expanded to include another 80 products.
It's also looking to expand its food waste reduction programs to all stores.
Woolworths and Coles last July joined the push to rid Australia of disposable plastic bags, and set a deadline of 30 June, 2018 for their stores to stop offering them to shoppers.
Woolworths later brought forward that deadline to 20 June.
The step-up in the campaign against waste by Coles and Woolies comes a week after the European Union outlined plans for a ban on single-use plastics including straws, cutlery and cotton buds.
Queensland and Western Australia area are also introducing state-wide bans on single-use plastic bags on 1 July, bringing them into line with the ACT, the Northern Territory, South Australia and Tasmania.
State of Origin legend and plastic bag ban ambassador Mal Meninga will join the National Retail Association (NRA) and the State Government will launch a month-long campaign calling on Queenslanders to get behind the ban, ahead of its 1 July rollout.
While Victoria is poised to follow suit, NSW has refused to ban single-use plastic bags, arguing the moves by the supermarket chains will be enough to reduce plastic bag use.
Instead of the free single-use bags, Woolworths will sell a 15c thick plastic reusable bag; a 99c canvas bag; a $2.49 chiller bag; and Coles will sell a 15c thick plastic reusable bag; a $1 plastic mix tote bag; a $2 plastic mix shoulder bag; a $2.50 chiller bag; and a $3 bag made of jute, a vegetable fibre.
